Method of making wired glass.



No. 776.158. V PATENTED Nov. 29, 1904.

R. A. B. WALSH.

METHOD OF MAKING WIRED GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8. 1904.

no MODEL.

NiTi n STATES Patented November 29, 1.904.

PATENT FFICE.

ROBERT A. B. W'ALSH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO MISSIS- SIPPI GLASS COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

METHOD OF MAKING WIRED GLASQ.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,158, dated November 29, 1904.

Application filed Pebruary 8, 1904. Serial No. 192,506- (No model.)

To all whom (It 'nl/nty concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. B. WALsu, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have in vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of Making \Vired Glass, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a diagramn'iatical view of the mechanism for forming the glass into sheets with a filler of mesh, the mesh and glass being illustrated in their correlated positions. Fig. 2 is a fraglnentary plan View of the two feedrolls. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical View of a slightly-modified form of feed mechanism and pressing device, and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the feed-rolls and the presser-roll.

This invention relates to a new and useful method of making wired glass, being particularly applicable to rolled glass which is configured with designs or provided with prismatic ribs. Heretofore in the manufacture of the wired glass machines have been employed for embedding the wire mesh in the sheet of glass, and these machines have been of various types. The principal machines, however, resorted to an advance smooth roller which initially rolled the glass into sheet form, a corrugated roller embedding the wire mesh in the center of the sheet, the sheet be ing finished by a smooth following roller which closed up the openings resulting from the corrugated roller and the embedded wire mesh.

Attempts have been made to configure one surface of wired glass, and as two principal methods have been followed in configuring glass these have been tried in conjunction with the wired glass. These methods involve, first, a configured following roller which impressed its design on the upper surface of the sheet of glass when in a molten or semimolten state and, second, configuring the bed-plate with the design and spreading the glass over such configured surface. In someinstanceswhere it has been desired to col'lfigure both surfaces the following roller and configured bed-plate have been conjointly used.

The diiliculties attending the practice of configuring the upper surface of a sheet of glass either by a design or prismatic ribs have been caused principally on account of the difference in circumferential speed with respect to the projections of the design on the roller as compared to the grooves of the design on the roller, the difference in circumferential speed causing the glass to crack and check. The difiiculty in impressing a design on the bottom of the sheet has been caused principally by the hot molten glass filling the configurations of the table-bed, which has a chilling effect thereon, with the result that the projections become congealed and contracting disproportionately to the body of the sheet will crack or check.

According to my present invention l first form the molten glass into a sheet and by the use of a corrugated roller embed the wire mesh in the center of the sheet, after which one surface, preferably the under surface, is exposed to atmosphere,so as to become slightly cooler than the other surface of the sheet,

, this cooler surface being then pressed on the configured surface to partake of the design ongraved thereon. So far as I am aware I am the first to introduce wire mesh into a sheet of glass from the under side, permit the under side to become slightly cool, and then close the openings and impress a design on the cooled under side by pressure exerted from above.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have shown two forms of apparatus for carrying out my invention, one involving movable rollers and a stationary bed-plate and the other stationarily-mounted rollers and a movable bed-plate.

Referring to Fig. 1, 1 is a smooth roller, and 2 a corrugated roller, which are spaced apart to initially forma sheet of glass. The corrugations of roller 2 become impressed in the design so as to locate the wire mesh 3 in the center of the sheet. Means are provided for causing the travel of these rollers along the bedplate 4, the upper surface of which is configured. provided with surfaces for imparting prismatic ribs to the sheet of glass. In operation the batch of glass is placed above and between the rollers and the wire mesh is preferably fed over the corrugated roller 2. These rollers 1 and 2 being rotated in the direction of the arrows they will initially form the sheet of glass with the wire mesh embedded in the center thereof, said sheet of glass following the roller 1, its lower or cooler surface contacting with the configured bed-plate, the roller 1 pressing the same against said bed-plate, so as to impress the configurations thereof onto the lower surface of said sheet. In this way the cooled lower surface will partake of the design; but by reason of the fact that it has already been chilled it will not contract disproportionately or to such an extent that it will check or crack with respect to the body of the sheet.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the same apparatus with this exception, that instead of the roller 1 being used to press the sheet onto the configured table an independently-mounted roller 6 is employed for this purpose. In this way both surfaces of the sheet of glass are exposed to atmosphere before the glass is deposited on thetable, the table being movable with respect to the rollers in this form in a well-known manner.

I am aware that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus for carrying out my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the forms shown.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein-described method of making configured wired glass, which consists in embedding a wire mesh in molten glass, forming the same in a sheet, exposing the under side of the sheet for a brief period to atmosphere for the purpose of slightly cooling the same and then pressing the under surface of the sheet against a configured surface; substantially as described.

2. The herein-described method of making configured wired glass, which consists in applying glass to both sides of a wire mesh, rolling the same into sheets so that the mesh will be enveloped except at theedges of the sheet, then briefly exposing the glass sheet to atmosphere and finally pressing thesheet against a configured surface; substantially as described.

3. The herein-described method of making wired glass which consists in forcing a wire mesh into molten glass and permitting the glass to flow through the mesh so as to center the glass therein by forming the same in a sheet, exposing the under side of the sheet for a brief period to atmosphere for the purpose of slightly cooling the same, and then pressing the under surface of the sheet against a bed or table; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature,in the presence of two witnesses,this 5th day of February, 1904:.

ROBERT A. B. WVALSH.

*itnesses:

B. F. FUNK, GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

